Letters to the Editor: Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Locking an energy mandate into the Michigan Constitution — which the 25 percent by 2025 renewable energy ballot proposal is guaranteed to do — is completely unnecessary and downright irresponsible.

I’ve been reading about local governments, businesses and organizations such as Michigan State University, IKEA and the City of Grand Rapids that have set their own renewable portfolio standards. These are all great examples of why we don’t need to amend our state constitution with an energy mandate. Additionally, the Michigan Chamber was correct when it announced we need green energy but not at the expense of the consumer! In fact, no other state in the country has ever amended its constitution to include a renewable portfolio standard.

Michigan already has a law in place that has set a reasonable and reliable renewable energy standard of 10 percent by 2015. The current legislation functions well and will serve as an excellent benchmark to proceed with future energy policy — but let’s allow that law to work.

Jim Van DorenLenawee Economic Development Corp. executive director

Consider a write-in instead of RomneyTo the editor,

I stayed away from writing about the national political circus until now because people are so fed up with it. But now that it’s winding down here is my opinion.

We were blasted on TV with divisional percentages like 1 percent versus 99 percent, and lately 47 percent verses 53 percent. When Mitt Romney spoke at that fundraiser and said 47 percent pay no federal income tax, and those “victims” need to take personal responsibility for their lives; it was the real Mitt Romney speaking to the choir from his heart. (Matthew 15:16-18) This is the way some Republican politicians lump certain segments of society together and wish they would just go away.

How many kids do you have? They’re a good tax shelter and a free pass to welfare for some adults. When you got married, with the first child you started paying less federal income tax? In six years and six kids you’ll pay no federal income tax. With 10 or more children you won’t ever have to pay federal income tax because before they leave the nest you’ll be retired and on Social Security. You’ll pay no federal income tax. Some with large pensions, financial settlements or inheritances may pay some taxes.

Other 47 percenters are people on Social Security, on unemployment and disabled. Others are the homeless, people that work for cash, drug kingpins and their dealers, pimps and their prostitutes, illegal gambling operators and their suckers, millions of prisoners and people on welfare.

Mitt Romney lumped all of us 47 percenters together as victims and wrote us off as irresponsible. Maybe he feels called to do the “responsible” thing and get rid of all social “entitlement” programs like Social Security, SSI, Medicaid and Medicare.

Maybe the Republican ideology is: Let the kids take care of their aging parents, the church take care of single mothers, homeless and disabled. No tax breaks for having kids. Get rid of all violent prisoners. Let the unemployed scramble to serve us for crumbs.

The Republican Party has been trying to divide us for years; all they need is the right man in the Oval Office and it’ll be the final nail in the coffin for the middle class.

The only irresponsible thing we can do is to vote for Mitt Romney because we don’t like President Obama. Write someone else in.